I have a job coming up which is a recital from a well respected classical guitarist. He does not use pick ups and would normally not require any S/R but the event will be staged using two adjoining rooms so those seated in the second room will require some help to hear the recital fully due to the acoustics. I have some good suitable mics for acoustic guitar but was looking into either having a Neumann KM184 or AKG 414 XLS on inventory for this kind of occasion. The Neumann appeals as it is a smaller discreet mic but I do not want to compromise sound for size, both microphones are in the running so thoughts from those that have used either or both please.

The KM184 (or hyper-card 185) mic is one of the go-to mics for acoustic guitar where I work. Schoeps Collette series also get the nod. And although we've got lots of 414s, I don't think anyone ever uses them for acoustic guitar (not sure why, I probably should try it sometime).

Another mic that doesn't suck for this is the AKG C460B+CK61 (the C460 has been replaced by the C480 in the AKG lineup).

Both mics should be fine for this purpose. The 184 might sound a tad more "natural", and it is easier to place and hide. Both mics have a touch of lift in the highs, so it may be desirable to knock off just a hair of the top so they don't sound too bright when close-miking the guitar.

Logged

In theory, theory and practice should be the same. In practice, they are not.

The KM184 is one of my favorite guitar mics. I use them all the time. They can be a little tricky in the monitors.

"A little tricky in the monitors?" Yea, here's tricky... hot humid summer day in the south and Tony Rice comes at you (the on monitors) with a pair of 184's on a big festival stage w/ no soundcheck under a giant tin roof and says "we'll use these. get em' up so we can hear will ya?" Good thing there were 12AM's on the stage that day. And that the Turbo rig was pretty well aimed. That's some stressful shit when don't have SMAART around. Even so when you do.